I'm going to write about something this week. I really am. And not just sports investing. I'm thinkin'

Open Thread

Added by TL: See comment by BTD below, all of his open threads exclude discussion of the Zimmerman case.)

It's been billed as the most dramatic, unexpected ending of the Bachelorette ever. Will Desiree take Brooks back or end up alone? Or pick one of the remaining two?

[Deleted: My inaccurate predictions.]

There will be a ring and a dress -- Neil Lane and Randi Rahm have already been paid and need the promotion. [More...]

CNN reports the recent al Qaida prison breaks factored into the decision to close embassies in the middle east and Africa.

CNN also refers to a recent statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri and his appointment of AQAP's Nasir al Wuhayshi as "general manager" of al Qaeda's multiple networks. McClatchy reports the threat came from intercepting communications between the two. [More...]

Here's an open thread for all topics except Zimmerman.

I'm delighted to see the media get on the case of the DEA Special Operations division.

A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges.

[More...]

Billy Slagle has been on death row since his murder conviction in 1988. He was 18 at the time of the crime. His execution date was set for Tuesday. This morning, he was found hanged in his cell. He was in solitary confinement.

Cuyahoga County prosecutors joined Slagle's family in asking for a reprieve, urging [Gov. John]Kasich to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole -- a sentence the prosecutor's office said had not been available at the time.

Gov. Kasich denied the request on July 24.

A federal jury in Virginia has rejected the Government's request for the death penalty in the case of the three remaining Somali pirates charged with killing Americans on their sailboat 40 miles off the coast of Somalia.

Under federal law, a sentence to death must be unanimous. In this case, one juror held out for life on one defendant, while two jurors felt life was appropriate for the other two.

Originally, there were 19 pirates on board when the shootings occurred. [More...]

3 weeks to college football!

Open Thread.

I've got a long drive this afternoon to a jail in the mountains. Here's an open thread, all topics (except Zimmerman) welcome.

Yesterday, the U.S. announced it would close its Embassies in the Middle East and North Africa. Today it issued a global travel alert to U.S. citizens, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

“The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula,” read the bulletin, by the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. “Current information suggests that Al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”

Travelers are urged to register their plans with the State Department. [More...]

At BloggingHeads TV, Glenn Loury and Ann Althouse discuss whether George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin was the right case for to pick as emblematic of racial profiling and race relations. I've been reading Ann's view of the case for months at her blog, so her view is not surprising to me. (While our politics are different, we have similar views of the evidence and legal aspects of the case.)

But I think some people, particularly those who view themselves as liberal, will be surprised by Loury's view. (The clip above is a one minute capsule of his position.)

In addition to agreeing this wasn't the right case to use to highlight problems with racial profiling and racial injustice, he questions whether Zimmerman should have been charged at all and says he would welcome an investigation into whether the prosecution was politically motivated. [More...]

I've complained a few times over the past months about the incomplete court docket in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev case, suggesting that mainstream media should object. It's one thing to keep the contents of a motion or order sealed, it's another to keep secret the fact that a motion or order was filed. In May, there were 22 missing docket entries. The docket today shows more missing docket entries(and shows nothing has been filed since July 15.)

At last: A challenge from MA media:

GateHouse Media Inc., the parent company of several Massachusetts-based community newspapers — including The Herald News, the Patriot Ledger and the MetroWest Daily News — on Wednesday submitted a letter to federal district court objecting that the public docket maintained in the criminal case against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is missing entries.

I quoted the MA rules and posted a graphic showing the missing entries in May, along with a graphic of how it's typically done in cases in other districts -- including terrorism cases, here [More...].